earth.gifGlobal Kids

With the Internet at their fingertips, children today are growing up with increasing global awareness. Teaching about global issues is no longer a matter of traditional social studies curriculum. Our students will be living and working in a world where some jobs are outsourced to foreign countries, language barriers can be easily overcome with sophisticated software, and friends and colleages all over the world are a quick IM, Skype call, or live webcam away. In this workshop we will discuss the educational ramifications of globalization in a new century where, as author Thomas Friedman writes, "the world is flat." We will explore some amazing resources for introducing students to global learning, and create a web-based project to share and potentially use as a pilot for a classroom lesson.

Why Geography Matters

Here's a video by Google that talks about the importance of knowing geography.

Getting Started

If you don't already have an account with a social bookmarking site, you should create one. We will be investigating numerous web-based tools for teaching and learning in a global way, so you will want to bookmark those resources for future use. What better way to save a global resource than on the World Wide Web?!
I suggest using Delicious, because that's what I use, but Diigo is also good, and it has some pretty cool tools, like sticky notes and highlighting. Here's a tutorial on social bookmarking that specificly teaches you how set up a Delicious account. If you have any questions, just let me know!
How to Use Delicious

Discussion Board

While we will be spending a couple days learning together, there is also much to be learned by using an online discussion board. Comments posted and questions answered will be recorded for your future reference, and you will be able to find many of the resources discussed on this wiki. Our final projects will be posted here too, so in a way this course is a hybrid of both face-to-face and online learning....a true global learning experience! Please take the time to visit the discussion board now to record your impressions of and expections for this 2-day workshop.

Resources

During this workshop we will be exploring, bookmarking, and using a variety of resources for teaching and learning in the context of our globe. Check them out, and if you have any comments, or would like to share other resources you know of, please do!



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